How to Safely Send a Digital Valentine

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With less than a week before Valentine's Day, the surveys on how
lovers connect on the year's most romantic day are pouring in. We
culled the best bits to help you find the most effective (and
safest) way to send a digital message to your valentine.

More than 75 percent of people said they call, text or email to
communicate with significant others, according to a survey of 200
tech users conducted by Sendmail, a company that provides an open
source email platform. The lesson here is to choose a one-to-one
channel, not social
media . None of the respondents sent a tweet to their
partner, only 1 percent used Instagram or Google+, 5 percent used
a video chat service like Skype and 11 percent posted to
Facebook.

But the results were different when responses were broken down by
age. For those under the age of 24, video chatting was their top
choice, while people over the age of 54 found email
most appropriate.

And forget sweet nothings — many will be sending sexy photos
instead. More than a third of Americans plan to send their
partner sexy or romantic photos on Valentine's Day via text,
email and social media, McAfee, a security firm, said this week
in its study, "Love, Relationships and Technology." But your
photo may get more exposure than you're anticipating.

In a new Match.com report, more than half of male daters and 45
percent of women said they've received a "sext" (a sexual text or
picture-based text message), and 23 percent have shared their
sexy messages and images with three or more people. Men
don't seem to mind when women share men's photos with their
friends, but if the tables are turned, nearly 90 percent of women
said they'd be offended if their guy showed pictures to his
friends.

That's why Cosmopolitan magazine recommends using Snapchat
, a free picture-messaging app that self-destructs your photos —
sexy or otherwise — after a few seconds. The venerable girl-guide
also suggests taking a close-up picture that shows only a bit of
cleavage or hip, so you can't be easily identified by others.

But once you've sent a photo or posted a message, your privacy is
no longer guaranteed — even Snapchat photos can be captured with
another phone camera or by a practiced user who can manage to
grab a screenshot in a second or two. And after a break-up, the
risks soar that your ex will share intimate photos. Read
more: Technology
Fuels Revenge of the Ex .

One last tip: Double check who you're sending your romantic
message to before you tap send. About 16 percent of people in the
Sendmail survey confessed they've sent sexts to the wrong person.

If you've decided to play it safe and send an old-fashioned
message, try Red Stamp, a charming free app for iPhone that lets
you make and send your own cards — digital and paper.